A new research, conducted by the Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE), has revealed a significant fall, since 2012, in the number of UK households receiving government aid to improve their energy use. Figures show a 75 per cent reduction following cuts to government programmes aimed at making homes warmer and cheaper to heat. More specifically, the number of efficiency measures installed through government-backed schemes fell from 1.7 million a year in 2012 to 340,000 now.

According to a study from researchers at University College London, an estimated 9,000 people died last winter in England and Wales as a result of living in a cold home. There are reportedly some five million people still living in cold homes, with the number thought to be closer to 13 million, as the UK government changed how it measured fuel poverty in 2013. The government agreed a legally-binding objective to eradicate fuel poverty by 2016.